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A.I. Worship Is Modern Idolatry
And why it won’t succeed
The God of the Judeo-Christian faith despises idols. The Bible says this is because God is a jealous God. But jealousy is not quite the right word. Jealously makes one think that the God of the heavens is in competition with a carved idol. That is not the case. Instead, God is jealous of our attention in a way that borders on pity. Why worship an idol when you can worship the actual lord of creation? What fool bows down to something created by human hands and eschews the one that created humanity?
Idolatry takes center stage in the very first of the Ten Commandments when God declares:
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them.”
These idols were often carved from wood, stone, or even gold. They were made in the image of other gods or mystical beings, like the fabled Golden Calf that the Israelites carve in the desert when they’re fed up with Moses’ PTO plan. God frowns upon these idols because they are simply silly. How can you worship something that you made with your own hands?
This is a pertinent question for today when it comes to the idea of AI worship. There are some humanists and futurists who have postulated that the rise of advanced Artificial Intelligence will give rise to cults that worship said AI. This is an interesting idea but one that befalls the same problems that stone idols had in ancient times. AI is created by humans and, therefore, is not worthy of any form of worship.
But will that deter people from trying? Idol worship appears over and over again in human history, but interestingly, idol worship lacks any real longevity compared to the worship of other gods. Idol religions rise and fall, while spiritual religions seem to stick around. Why is that? It is because deep down humans know that idols are simply not worthy of their time and attention. It is a fundamental truth of our existence.
The Foolishness of Idols
Something created cannot truly be greater than its creator. That is the central argument against idolatry. Yet, some people…
